Clark men’s baseball was defeated on Saturday in both games of a doubleheader against Linn-Benton Community College.
LBCC won the first game 16-4. Clark was able to keep the game close until the seventh inning when LBCC leftfielder Eric Allen hit a deep double to left field, allowing three runners to score. The gap was further widened in the eighth inning when center-fielder Jacob Musial hit a three-run homer.
According to Clark Head Coach Brett Neffendorf, Clark didn’t put enough pressure defensively on LBCC. “We responded well three innings in a row, they would put a score up, we put a score up. But you have to shut them down.” Neffendorf said. “It wasn’t until those last couple of innings that things blew open.”
The second game of the double header saw LBCC win 2-0 with both runs in the game coming in the fourth inning. The first run was scored by Musial who hit a solo home run, his second of the day. The second run was scored off of a fielding error by Clark.
After the game, Clark pitcher Nick Duron felt there was clear room for improvement. “I left the ball up a little bit and they made some hard contact,” Duron said. “We need to get better offensively and defensively as a team, overall it wasn’t a great weekend but you can always get better during the week.”
Clark now sits at 14-18 on the season. Their next opponent will be Southwest Oregon Community College on Saturday.
